1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a host system and a driving apparatus included in an information recording and reproduction apparatus in which the driving apparatus records information on an information recording medium and reads information recorded on an information recording medium, and the host system outputs an instruction to the driving apparatus; an information recording and reading method for the host system; and information recording and reading method for the driving apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a host system and a driving apparatus for shortening a recording processing time period required for recording information on the information recording medium and a reading processing time period required for reading information from the information recording medium; an information recording and reading method for the host system; and an information recording and reading method for the driving apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information recording and reproduction apparatuses capable of recording information and reproducing recorded information are well known. An information recording and reproduction apparatus includes a driving apparatus for recording information on an information recording medium and reading information recorded on the information recording medium, and a host system for outputting an instruction to the driving apparatus. The host system outputs a command, to the driving apparatus, including an instruction for recording information on an information recording medium or an instruction for reading information recorded on the information recording medium for the purpose of reproducing the information.
FIG. 14 schematically shows a conventional information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400. The information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 includes a host system 1410 and a driving apparatus 1420. The host system 1410 is connected to the driving apparatus 1420 through a connection bus 1430.
The host system 1410 includes a user input section 1442 for receiving an input from a user, an information input section 1444 for receiving information to be recorded on an information recording medium 1470 included in the driving apparatus 1420 from an external device, an instruction generation section 1446 for generating an instruction designating a type of operation to be performed by the driving apparatus 1420, an input/output section 1448 for outputting information to the driving apparatus 1420 and receiving information from the driving apparatus 1420, and a reproduction section 1456 for reproducing information. The input/output section 1448 includes an output section 1450 for outputting information to the driving apparatus 1420 and an input section 1452 for receiving information from the driving apparatus 1420.
The driving apparatus 1420 includes an input/output section 1466 for receiving information from the host system 1410 and outputting information to the host system 1410, and a recording and reading section 1468 for recording information on the information recording medium 1470 and reading information recorded on the information recording medium 1470. The input/output section 1466 includes an output section 1462 for outputting information to the host system 1410 and an input section 1464 for receiving information from the host system 1410.
The conventional information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 operates as follows.
When the user needs information to be recorded, the user instructs the user input section 1442 to record the information on the information recording medium 1470. Based on the instruction from the user input section 1442, the instruction generation section 1446 generates an instruction designating the type of operation to be performed by the driving apparatus 1420, i.e., an operation of recording the information on the information recording medium 1470. The output section 1450 outputs a command including the instruction generated by the instruction generation section 1446 to the driving apparatus 1420.
When the user needs information recorded on the information recording medium 1470 to be reproduced, the user instructs the user input section 1442 to reproduce the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470. Based on the instruction from the user input section 1442, the instruction generation section 1446 generates an instruction designating the type of operation to be performed by the driving apparatus 1420, i.e., an operation of reading the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470. The output section 1450 outputs a command including the instruction generated by the instruction generation section 1446 to the driving apparatus 1420. The recording and reading section 1468 of the driving apparatus 1420 reads the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470 based on an instruction from the host system 1410. The input section 1452 of the host system 1410 receives the information read by the driving apparatus 1420 and the reproduction section 1456 reproduces the information.
FIG. 15 shows a flowchart 1500 illustrating an operation of the driving apparatus 1420 of the conventional information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400. The above-described operation of the information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 will be described with reference to the flowchart 1500.
In step 1502, the input section 1464 of the driving apparatus 1420 receives a command which is output from the output section 1450 of the host system 1410 and interprets the command. The command includes an instruction designating the type of operation to be performed by the recording and reading section 1468 of the driving apparatus 1420, i.e., an operation of recording information on the information recording medium 1470 or an operation of reading information from the information recording medium 1470.
In step 1504, the recording and reading section 1468 starts positioning for the operation designated by the instruction. Positioning is conducted for preparing the recording and reading section 1468 for performing the operation designated by the instruction. When, for example, the type of operation designated by the instruction is for recording information on the information recording medium 1470, the recording and reading section 1468 performs positioning for recording the information at a prescribed address of the information recording medium 1470. When the type of operation designated by the instruction is for reading information recorded on the recording medium 1470, the recording and reading section 1468 performs positioning for reading the information from a prescribed address of the information recording medium 1470.
After the positioning is finished, in step 1506, the recording and reading section 1468 performs the operation designated by the instruction. When the type of operation designated by the instruction is for recording information on the information recording medium 1470, the recording and reading section 1468 records the information at the prescribed address of the information recording medium 1470. When the type of operation designated by the instruction is for reading information recorded on the recording medium 1470, the recording and reading section 1468 reads the information from the prescribed address of the information recording medium 1470.
After the operation designated by the instruction is finished, in step 1508, the output section 1462 of the driving apparatus 1420 outputs a notification indicating that the operation designated by the instruction is completed to the host system 1410 through the connection bus 1430.
The host system 1410 receives the notification indicating that the operation designated by the instruction is completed from the driving apparatus 1420 and, when necessary, outputs the next instruction to the driving apparatus 1420.
In this specification, the term “operation processing” is defined to include the step of interpreting a command including an instruction from the host system, the step of performing the positioning for the operation designated by the instruction, the step of performing the operation designated by the instruction, and the step of outputting a notification indicating the operation designated by the instruction is completed. The term “reading processing” is defined to include the step of interpreting a command including an instruction from the host system for reading information, the step of performing the positioning for the reading operation, the step of performing the reading operation, and the step of outputting a notification indicating the reading operation is completed. The term “recording processing” is defined to include the step of interpreting a command including an instruction from the host system for recording information, the step of performing the positioning for the recording operation, the step of performing the recording operation, and the step of outputting a notification indicating the recording operation is completed.
The conventional information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 was developed with an assumption that a recording operation of information and a reading operation of information are performed at different times.
Recently, however, information recording and reproduction apparatuses are required to perform a recording operation of information and a reading operation of information concurrently, so that the user can reproduce one program while recording another program, or the user can record one program while reproduce a part of the same program which was broadcast several minutes before.
The recording and reading section 1468 of the driving apparatus 1420 of the conventional information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 shown in FIG. 14 cannot record information on the information recording medium 1470 and read information recorded on the information recording medium 1470 concurrently. Therefore, when concurrent recording and reproduction of information is required, the recording and reading section 1468 alternately record information on the information recording medium 1470 and read information recorded on the information recording medium 1470.
FIG. 16 shows a flowchart 1600 illustrating an operation of the driving apparatus 1420 of the information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 performing a process of recording information, reading information, and then recording another piece of information.
When concurrent recording and reproduction of information is requested, the output section 1450 of the host system 1410 sequentially outputs, to the driving apparatus 1420, a first command including an instruction for performing first recording processing 1610 (a first operation), a second command including an instruction for performing reading processing 1620 (a second operation) and a third command including an instruction for performing second recording processing 1630 (a third operation).
First recording processing 1610 is started as the first operation.
With reference to FIG. 16, in step 1612 of the first recording processing 1610, the input section 1464 of the driving apparatus 1420 receives the first command from the output section 1450 of the host system 1410 and interprets the command. The first command includes the instruction for performing the first recording processing 1610.
In step 1614, the recording and reading section 1468 of the driving apparatus 1420 performs positioning for recording the information on the information recording medium 1470.
After the positioning is finished, in step 1616, the recording and reading section 1468 records the information on the information recording medium 1470.
After the recording and reading section 1468 records the information on the information recording medium 1470, in step 1618, the output section 1462 of the driving apparatus 1420 outputs a notification indicating that the recording operation is completed to the host system 1410 through the connection bus 1430. At this point, the first recording processing 1610 is completed.
Then, the reading processing 1620 is started as the second operation.
In step 1622 of the reading processing 1620, the input section 1464 of the driving apparatus 1420 receives the second command from the output section 1450 of the host system 1410 and interprets the command. The second command includes the instruction for performing the reading processing 1620.
In step 1624, the recording and reading section 1468 of the driving apparatus 1420 performs positioning for reading the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470.
After the positioning is finished, in step 1626, the recording and reading section 1468 reads the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470.
After the recording and reading section 1468 reads the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470, in step 1628, the output section 1462 of the driving apparatus 1420 outputs a notification indicating that the reading operation is completed to the host system 1410 through the connection bus 1430. At this point, the reading processing 1620 is completed.
Then, the second recording processing 1630 is started as the third operation.
In step 1632 of the recording processing 1630, the input section 1464 of the driving apparatus 1420 receives the third command from the output section 1450 of the host system 1410 and interprets the command. The third command includes the instruction for performing the second recording processing 1630.
In step 1634, the recording and reading section 1468 of the driving apparatus 1420 performs positioning for recording the information recorded on the information recording medium 1470.
After the positioning is finished, in step 1636, the recording and reading section 1468 records the information on the information recording medium 1470.
After the recording and reading section 1468 records the information on the information recording medium 1470, in step 1638, the output section 1462 of the driving apparatus 1420 outputs a notification indicating that the recording operation is completed to the host system 1410 through the connection bus 1430. At this point, the second recording processing 1630 is completed.
As shown in FIG. 16, the information recording and reproduction apparatus 1400 performs the operation processing for recording or reading information in repetition.
The speed of recording processing and reproduction processing can be increased by shortening the operation processing time. In that case, concurrent recording and reproduction of even high bit rate (high density) information can be property performed.